After twelve years at the apex of Serbian political life, Aleksandar Vučić has resigned the presidency not in retreat but in maneuver, seeking the prime minister's office before a constitutional term limit could remove him from the arena entirely. His move arrives at a moment when grief has become politics — sixteen lives lost beneath a collapsed train station canopy in Novi Sad have given a student-led generation its cause and its voice. On October 25, Serbia will be asked to decide not merely between candidates but between two visions of accountability: one rooted in continuity and state pow
Vučić Resigns Presidency to Run for PM as Serbia Faces Electoral Reckoning
A train station canopy collapse in November 2024 killed 16 people in Novi Sad, triggering widespread protests demanding accountability.
Sixteen deaths became a focal point for anger over accountability
Mark
Why does Vučić need to become prime minister if he's already been the dominant figure for twelve years?
Mimi
The constitution won't let him run for a third presidential term. He could have simply left office, but that would mean losing his position at the center of power. The prime minister's job is formally more powerful anyway, so it's a logical move—and it keeps him in charge.
Luke
But we should be careful here. The source says he's been "dominant" during his presidency, but it also notes he "sometimes" presided over government sessions and "routinely" announced decisions. That's influence, not necessarily formal authority. The shift might be less about gaining power and more about keeping the title that matters.
Mark
What makes the student movement different from other opposition groups in Serbia?
Mimi
It started with a concrete tragedy—sixteen people died when a train station canopy collapsed. That gave the movement legitimacy and focus. The students aren't career politicians; they're professors, teachers, athletes. They're cycling around the country talking about rule of law. It's a different kind of campaign.
Luke
True, but we don't actually know how deep their organization goes or whether they have any governing experience. The source says they're "little-known," which could mean they're fresh and authentic, or it could mean they're untested. Polling shows them close to Vučić, but close isn't the same as ahead.
Mark
Is there any real chance Vučić loses this election?
Mimi
Analysts are calling it referendum-like, which suggests it's genuinely competitive. The student movement has momentum, real anger behind it, and Vučić's party has been in power for fourteen years. People get tired. But he controls state media, state resources, and the security apparatus.
Luke
The source doesn't give us actual polling numbers, just that they're "polling closely." We don't know the margin of error, the timing of those polls, or whether they're measuring likely voters or all adults. And Vučić's control of institutions is real—the anti-corruption authorities haven't even responded to a complaint filed against him. That's a structural advantage that's hard to overcome.
O Pulso
- A constitutional wall — no third presidential term — forced Vučić's hand, but his pivot to the prime ministership signals that he intends to remain the gravitational center of Serbian governance regardless of title.
- Sixteen deaths beneath a crumbling station canopy in Novi Sad became the spark that transformed diffuse public frustration into an organized, student-driven political movement demanding that power finally answer for itself.
- The opposition slate — professors, athletes, teachers arriving by bicycle rather than motorcade — has drawn nearly even with Vučić's party in polling, turning the October 25 vote into something closer to a referendum than a routine election.
- Vučić's campaign leans heavily on state-friendly media, infrastructure ribbon-cuttings, and direct payments to voters, while his government's anti-corruption bodies remain silent on formal complaints filed against him.
- Police have met protesters with force and detentions, and Vučić has warned of foreign-directed destabilization on election night — accusations offered without evidence but designed to frame dissent as threat.
- Serbia's stalled EU accession bid hangs in the background, a measure of how far democratic erosion and alignment with Russia over Ukraine have cost the country in its relationship with the West.
After twelve years at the apex of Serbian political life, Aleksandar Vučić has resigned the presidency not in retreat but in maneuver, seeking the prime minister's office before a constitutional term limit could remove him from the arena entirely. His move arrives at a moment when grief has become politics — sixteen lives lost beneath a collapsed train station canopy in Novi Sad have given a student-led generation its cause and its voice. On October 25, Serbia will be asked to decide not merely between candidates but between two visions of accountability: one rooted in continuity and state power, the other in the moral weight of unanswered questions.
Aleksandar Vučić resigned the Serbian presidency this week and immediately positioned himself as his party's candidate for prime minister ahead of an October 25 election. The move was constitutional necessity dressed as strategic choice — Serbia's constitution bars a third presidential term, and Vučić, who has held either the presidency or the prime ministership for twelve consecutive years, was not prepared to simply leave.
The timing could hardly be more fraught. In November 2024, a canopy at a train station in Novi Sad collapsed and killed sixteen people. The disaster did not stay a disaster — it became a symbol of governance without consequence, and university students transformed their grief into organization. The movement they built has since grown into a credible political force, fielding a slate of professors, teachers, and athletes who have toured the country by bicycle, a pointed contrast to Vučić's campaign of state-media saturation, road openings, and home visits.
Polling places the two sides nearly even, and analysts describe the atmosphere as referendum-like: a binary choice between fourteen more years of Serbian Progressive Party rule and something genuinely different. The prime minister's office Vučić now seeks carries more formal authority than the presidency he is vacating, though his presidency was never ceremonial — he regularly presided over cabinet sessions and announced major policy decisions. His ally Ana Brnabić will serve as acting president until a new parliament convenes.
The charges against Vučić's party are long and familiar: corruption, ties to organized crime, suppression of independent media, and the slow absorption of state institutions into party machinery. A formal complaint alleging he abused his presidential office for campaign purposes has gone unanswered by anti-corruption authorities that remain under government control. Vučić, for his part, has accused critics and journalists of acting as foreign agents — without offering evidence — and police have used force against demonstrators.
What October 25 will reveal is whether the anger ignited by sixteen deaths in Novi Sad has hardened into a durable political majority, or whether Vučić's command of state resources and media will once again prove sufficient to hold the center.
Aleksandar Vučić stepped down from the Serbian presidency this week, moving swiftly to position himself as his party's candidate for prime minister in an election scheduled for October 25. The constitutional bar against a third presidential term left him no choice—his second term would have ended in May 2027—but the timing of his resignation and the office he chose to pursue next reveal a calculation about where real power lies in Serbia's political system and how to hold onto it.
For twelve years, Vučić has occupied either the presidency or the prime minister's chair, and for much of that span he has dominated both. His Serbian Progressive Party, a right-wing populist outfit, has controlled the country for fourteen years. That grip is now being tested as never before. In November 2024, a canopy at a train station in Novi Sad collapsed and killed sixteen people. The disaster ignited something larger than grief—it became a focal point for anger over accountability, over the sense that power in Serbia operates without consequence. University students organized, demanded answers, and their movement has metastasized into a genuine political force.
The student-backed slate running against Vučić's party reads like a cross-section of ordinary professional life: professors, teachers, athletes, experts from various fields. They have toured the country on bicycles, a deliberate contrast to Vučić's recent campaign style, which has involved heavy coverage on state-friendly media outlets, ribbon-cuttings for new roads, announcements of cheaper medicines and assistance payments, and visits to voters in their homes. Polling suggests the two sides are running nearly even in what analysts describe as a referendum-like atmosphere—a binary choice between continuity under Vučić and change.
The prime minister's office in Serbia carries more formal power than the presidency, though Vučić's presidency was never a ceremonial role. He regularly presided over government sessions and announced major decisions. His successor as acting president will be Ana Brnabić, a longtime ally and former prime minister who currently serves as parliament's speaker. Once a new parliament is elected, the speaker will appoint the next prime minister and schedule a presidential election.
Vučić's party faces accusations that have accumulated over more than a decade: rampant corruption, ties to organized crime, suppression of critical media, and a steady consolidation of state institutions under party control. The Serbian Bureau for Social Research filed a complaint alleging that Vučić abused his presidential office to promote his party—a charge he dismissed. The anti-corruption authorities that might investigate remain under government control and have not responded. Vučić himself has accused opponents and critical journalists of plotting to destabilize the country under foreign direction, though he has offered no evidence.
Police have confronted protesters with force and detentions. Vučić told state television on Sunday that foreign powers and unnamed domestic actors were planning to stir unrest on election night. Serbia's bid to join the European Union has stalled under his leadership, blocked by concerns about democratic backsliding and his refusal to align with EU sanctions against Russia over Ukraine.
The October 25 ballot will reveal whether fourteen years of SNS rule has become brittle, whether the anger sparked by sixteen deaths in Novi Sad has hardened into a political majority, or whether Vučić's shift to the prime minister's office and his control of state resources will prove sufficient to hold power once more.
Citações Notáveis
I am resigning the duty of the president of the republic— Aleksandar Vučić
Vučić accused opponents and critical media of plotting to destabilize the country under foreign direction, without offering evidence— Aleksandar Vučić
Quer a matéria completa?
Leia o original em The Guardian ↗